This day in wrestling history can be summed up in one line from Bobby Heenan: “Hulkamania is dead! Long live The Undertaker!”
Hindsight is always 20/20 and it’s hard to imagine a time when the Undertaker wasn’t a serious threat to the WWE world title until defeated Hulk Hogan in a surprising upset at Survivor Series on November 27, 1991.
The discovery
Sometimes it just takes someone believing in us to make something happen, and Hulk Hogan wrote about how he met Undertaker and thought he could make money with him.
Special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the transcripts and excerpts used in this article.
“Back in 1990, when I was making Suburban Commando, I was playing a guy from another planet and I needed a couple of alien bounty hunters to chase me to Earth. We had one big guy named Tony Longo to play one of the bounty hunters, but we were looking for a second big guy. All of a sudden I thought of this guy named ‘Mean’ Mark Calloway, a six-foot-ten wrestler who I had seen working for WCW.
“I said, ‘This guy would be great.’ So I called him and brought him down to do the movie. As we talked on the set and I got to know the guy, I saw some star quality in him. I asked him if he was interested in going to New York to wrestle and he said he was. First chance I got, I called Vince McMahon. I said, ‘Hey, brother, there’s a guy here making this movie with me…he’s a wrestler, he’s a nice guy, and he’s like six foot ten. I think I can draw some money with him.’” – Hulk Hogan, Hollywood Hulk Hogan book.
The moment
The Undertaker said he was looking for work and Vince McMahon called him up with the Undertaker character. He just needed someone big and without a personality to pull it off.
From his debut with Brother Love at his side and later Paul Bearer, the Undertaker was growing as one of the top heels in the industry, so when he was set to face Hogan it was another great moment for fans as we chose sides in the battle.
“At that time, Hulk Hogan was everything in wrestling and to his credit, he’ll go down in history as one of the biggest icons…and I beat him. The strangest thing about that night, it was in Joe Louis (Arena) in Detroit, was when I went out as the antagonist, the heel, the fans were cheering for me. That was the beginning of people getting with that character.” – The Undertaker, This Is My Yard documentary.
Just like that, the Undertaker went over and we saw the birth of the Phenom that would become a dominate figure in the WWE for the next 30 years.
It’s amazing how one decision, moment, or belief can create something special, and this day in wrestling history is further proof of that.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get The Overtimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
Remember to stay up to date with the latest news on TheOvertimer. Don’t forget to visit ScreenJuicer for great videos, news, and gameplay!
